Evert: 'Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal know that time is not on their side'

• Tennis News
• Roger Federer

Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic are still at the top of world tennis despite all three having passed the age of 30 (the Swiss is now close to the threshold of 40). In particular, 2017 marked the return of Federer and Nadal, able to reach the Australian Open final despite having started the tournament with very few expectations.

The Serbian champion had to deal with a period of crisis, also due to an elbow injury, before returning to win a Slam at Wimbledon 2018. The World number 1 was also awarded the only Slam played in 2020, the Australian Open, reaching 17 career majors.

Before the forced suspension, Novak was unbeaten in 2020 having won the first edition of the ATP Cup, the Australian Open and the ATP 500 in Dubai (after canceling the match point in Monfils in the semifinal). Speaking on the show called 'Chatting with Daniela', former World number 1 Chris Evert talked about the Big 3.

Evert on Federer, Nadal and Djokovic

"It can work either way. (But) players that have been around a long time, especially Serena Williams, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, I think they're going to dive right into it," Chris Evert said.

"They're doing all they can right now, they are appreciating that they can be with their family, that they can rest their body," Evert added. "But they also know that time is not on their side. So why not just go into it and give it another year and give it all they got.

So I think in that respect it will favor those players" - she added. "I feel bad for Novak Djokovic," Evert explained. "He had the momentum. Everyone is saying, is he gonna win the Grand Slam - all the 4 Slams. He was playing awesome tennis.

He'll be an interesting story to see if he can get that momentum back." According to reports of the Russian newspaper Kommersant, the tournament organizers will have quite a few problems in raising funds with the changing economic conditions due to the global health crisis.

Consequently, they are forced to cut down the prize money for the players as revenue reach rock-bottom due to COVID-19 impact. According to Forbes, the ticket sales of the 2017 US Open accounted for 36 percent ($120 million) of that year’s total tournament revenue ($335 million). Hence, the tournament earnings would fo down significantly if played behind closed doors.